Health Insurance Disclosure Required for New Divorce Agreements
Daniel Clement’s blog has an interesting item regarding a new medical insurance disclosure requirement for New York state divorce agreements and judgments. The law mandates that all divorce settlement agreements contain specific language advising the parties that they may lose their health insurance as a result of the entry of a judgment of divorce. The law requires the Court to ensure that the statutory language is contained in the agreement. The law takes effect on November 1, 2007.
This new law is, in my opinion, completely unnecessary and will do nothing but cause confusion and delay in the resolution of divorce actions for several months while the Courts and matrimonial attorneys update their forms and procedures to accommodate the additional language.
In my experience, I have never had a cause where a party was unaware that he or she would lose his or her health insurance after a divorce was finalized. In fact, for many of my clients the questions surrounding the loss and cost of health insurance after a divorce were a major point of negotiation and contention.
My son just turned 21 and I found out my ex cancelled his healthcare insurance two months ago. He is a full time college student and has no insurance, nor were we notified.
Do I have any legal rights in this situation?